Written Answers Monday 13 June 2005

Scottish Executive

Advocacy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the review of the Advocacy Safeguards Agency will be published and where it will be made available.

Mr Andy Kerr: A joint independent evaluation of the Advocacy Safeguards Agency and the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance was carried out in 2004 and a report was passed to the Health Department. The purpose of the evaluation was to inform discussions between the department and the organisations about the best way forward in meeting the commitment to ensure that advocacy is available to those that need it.

  The evaluation report is available at www.advocacysafeguards.org and in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36727).

Asylum Seekers

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of asylum seekers residing in Scotland who were required to travel to Liverpool or elsewhere in England for authorisation to work in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. The requirements and arrangements for asylum seekers to travel to Liverpool and elsewhere are matters for the Home Office.

Child Protection

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been registered on the child protection register in each of the last three years.

Euan Robson: Each local authority in Scotland has a child protection register. Child protection statistics were published on 31 October 2004, in Children’s Social Work Statistics 2003-2004 . Table 3.8 shows the number of children on each of the local authority child protection registers at 31 March in 2002, 2003 and 2004. These figures are available on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00369-32.asp .

Emergency Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances there have been of emergency vehicles being restricted in attending incidents as a result of illegal or inappropriate parking; what legislation applies in such cases, and what action it plans to take to address the issue.

Cathy Jamieson: There are no centrally recorded statistics available. Section 103 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, made under the Road Traffic Act 1972, makes it an offence to cause any unnecessary obstruction of the road. Enforcement is a matter for the police.

European Funding

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the creation of a south of Scotland region eligible for Objective 1, statistical effect or transitional funding was discussed by the Deputy First Minister and the European Commissioner for Regional Policy at their recent meeting.

Mr Jim Wallace: In order for the south of Scotland region to be eligible for the Commission’s proposed Convergence funding, it would need to be reclassified as a NUTS II region. The issue of reclassification was raised by the Executive with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of National Statistics, but it was made clear that reviews of NUTS boundaries were the overall responsibility of Eurostat. The latter has stated that it will not authorise any changes to existing NUTS boundaries until the beginning of 2008 – after the conclusion of the current Structural Funds negotiations. At present, under the Commission’s proposals, the south of Scotland would be eligible for Competitiveness Objective funding.

  The contribution that Structural Funds have made to Scotland in the past, including the south of Scotland, was discussed with Commissioner Hubner at the recent meeting. However, in light of the Executive’s earlier inquiries, the issue of the south of Scotland’s eligibility for Objective 1 status was not raised.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage achievement of quality indicators for GP surgeries in the Quality and Outcomes Framework is considered acceptable for patient safety.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is not necessary for GP practices to participate in the Quality and Outcomes Framework in order to provide safe services to the patient.

  The provision of services that are acceptable for patient safety is covered by the essential services element of the GMS Contract. All practices are required to provide safe and effective services to patients.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow public landowners, such as NHS boards and local authorities, to enter into land leasing agreements to provide affordable, sustainable housing.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our housing policy statement Homes for Scotland’s People , published in March 2005, outlines the steps we are taking to make better use of public sector land for affordable housing. These steps include further work with UK government departments and other public bodies, including the NHS and local authorities, to secure transfers of public sector sites for affordable housing in areas where particular need has been identified. We have no plans to enter into land leasing agreements.

Junior Doctors

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the ending of the opt-out from the EU Working Time Directive by 2009 will have on the training of junior doctors.

Mr Andy Kerr: Patient safety is of paramount importance and junior doctors, or any other NHS staff, should not be working when they are overtired. No agreement has yet been reached in Europe to abolish the opt-out from the working time regulations (WTR). In reality there are practical difficulties about junior doctors using the opt-out.

  The WTR are one of the reasons new arrangements for training junior doctors will be implemented from August under Modernising Medical Careers. This will create more effective and responsive training pathways which will use reduced time to train doctors more effectively. Already 97% of doctors in training currently work 56 hours a week or less. By 2009, all junior doctors should be working a maximum of 48 hours per week in line with the working time directive.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20829 by Mr Jim Wallace on 24 December 2001, how many offences involving air guns there were in each of the last four years, broken down into those committed by persons (a) under 16 and (b) 16 and over and what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government on the control of such weapons.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of recorded crimes and offences involving air weapons and unidentified weapons in the last four years, and the age breakdown of the main accused, where known, are given in the following table.

  There have been changes in recording practices which have affected the number of recorded crimes and offences involving air weapons in recent years. In Strathclyde, prior to 2001, and Lothian and Borders, prior to 2002, if a weapon was not seen or seen but not established, an assumption was made about what type of weapon this was. It was usually assumed that it was an air weapon and was recorded as such in the statistical return. However, this recording practice was changed, and if a weapon was not seen or seen but not established, it is now recorded as such and no assumption is made about what the weapon was. This had the effect of decreasing the number of incidents involving an air weapon and increasing those involving an unidentified weapon.

  In 2003 Lothian and Borders police began recording details of incidents using crime reports from members of the public. The complainants may identify the firearm involved as an air weapon, based on the type of damage caused, even if they have not seen the firearm. This has led to an increase in the alleged use of air weapons and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms.

  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in Which an Air Weapon or Unidentified Weapon was Alleged to Have Been Used; by Age of Main Accused Where Known, Scotland, 2000-20

  

 All Incidents
 
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 
 Air Weapon
 570
 516
 331
 415


 Unidentified Weapons
 142
 333
 523
 361


 Age of Accused, where known
 
 
 
 
 


Under 16
 Air Weapon
 101
 90
 80
 39


 Unidentified Weapons
 1
 6
 19
 14


16 or over
 Air Weapon
 149
 159
 129
 119


 Unidentified Weapons
 43
 60
 77
 78


No accused identified
 Air Weapon
 320
 267
 122
 257


 Unidentified Weapons
 98
 267
 427
 269



  The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Home Office on a wide range of issues including firearms and air weapons. Scottish ministers also continue to ensure that Scottish views and interests are recognised, through direct contact with Home Office Ministers.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-15791 and S2W-16581 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 and 31 May 2005, whether it will instigate a review or audit of figures produced by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in light of any discrepancy in the figures produced by the Inspectorate and directly by Grampian Police on numbers of racist incidents in 2003-04 and 2004.

Cathy Jamieson: We have investigated the figures, which were provided to SPICe and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary by Grampian Police. Grampian police have acknowledged that the data they provided to HM Inspectorate for 2003-04 was inaccurate - the correct number of racist incidents reported for that year was in fact 305. The figure of 472 held by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre relates to incidents reported in 2004-05.

Ministerial Correspondence

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the first quarter of 2005.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the answer given to question S1W-24583, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter January to March 2005, 2,899 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 76% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

Museums

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what signage will be provided to direct traffic from the A1 to the Concorde Experience at the Museum of Flight at East Fortune; what the cost to the museum will be, and when the signs will be erected.

Nicol Stephen: Tourist signing already exists on the A1 trunk road to direct traffic to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune where Concorde is displayed. The Scottish Executive is not aware of any approach by the operator of the museum to request any changes to the existing signs following the opening of the Concorde Experience.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what projections it has made in respect of the percentage of the NHS budget to be allocated to the private health care sector in the next five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive continues to be committed to maximising the use of the NHS but making use of the independent health care sector where appropriate. As stated in Fair to All, Personal to Each the Executive will negotiate contracts with the independent health care sector worth up to £45 million over the next three years which is 0.16% of the total NHS budget. In addition NHS boards may incur direct expenditure with the independent health care sector but this can not be estimated as NHS boards will base any decisions on the use of the independent health care sector on the specific needs of their services at the time. No decisions have yet been taken of the NHS budget beyond 2007-08.

National Health Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients it expects will be treated by the private sector at the Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of patients to be treated in a partnership arrangement with the private sector at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre has yet to be determined. This will be agreed through a future tendering process.

National Health Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what surplus capacity at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre will be utilised by the private sector.

Mr Andy Kerr: The capacity at Stracathro being considered for utilisation by the independent health care sector is likely to be in terms of beds and theatre availability. A project team has been established to scope the detailed specification.

National Health Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to issue a tender specification for the provision of health care services by the private sector at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre.

Mr Andy Kerr: The tender specification for the provision of health care services by the independent health care sector at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre will be issued by Tayside NHS Board. It is expected that this will be issued in the autumn.

National Health Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what tendering procedures it is required to observe in relation to commissioning the private sector to deliver health care services at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre.

Mr Andy Kerr: The final contract will be between Tayside NHS Board and the independent health care sector provider. The tendering process will therefore be led by NHS Tayside. Tendering procedures to be adhered to will be in accordance with NHS Tayside procurement policy and standing financial instructions.

National Health Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial contribution will be required by NHS Tayside to facilitate delivery of health care services by the private sector at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive will fully fund the pilot project, up to £15 million over the next three years, for delivery of health care services by the independent health care sector at Stracathro Ambulatory Diagnostic Treatment Centre. Should NHS Tayside, or other participating boards, wish to expand the scope of this provision, then they would require to find any additional funding necessary.

National Health Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why NHS Western Isles, with 11 inhabited islands, receives £691 per capita funding per annum more than NHS Argyll and Clyde, with 26 inhabited islands.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Arbuthnott formula allocates resources to health boards in Scotland by determining their relative need for funding. The formula is based on a board’s population but adjusted for factors that determine relative need for health care. These factors are the age structure of the population and relative number of males and females, the level of deprivation and an adjustment to take into account the additional costs of delivering health care in remote and rural areas.

  Based on the indicators which contribute to the Arbuthnott formula, the Western Isles has, relative to Argyll and Clyde, a higher proportion of population characteristics which indicate the need for more health care resources, such as older people, and has higher levels of deprivation and remoteness. These adjustments result in higher per capita funding for the Western Isles.

National Health Service

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many DEXA scanners there are in each NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the following table. The Golden Jubilee also has access to a DEXA scanner two days a week. This facility is available to all NHS boards. It is for NHS boards to determine how to allocate resources to local services.

  

 NHS Board Area
 Number of DEXA Scanners
 Location
 Where patients can access service if Board does not have DEXA Scanner


 Argyll and Clyde
 0
 N/A
 Greater Glasgow


 Ayrshire and Arran 
1
 Ayrshire Central Hospital 
 N/A


 Borders
 0
 N/A
 Lothian


 Dumfries and Galloway 
1
 Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary
 N/A


 Fife
 1
 Victoria Hospital 
 N/A


 Forth Valley
0
 N/A
Greater Glasgow/Edinburgh


Greater Glasgow
4
Southern General Stobhill Hospital Western Infirmary Glasgow Royal Infirmary
N/A


 Grampian
 1
 Woolmanhill Hospital, Aberdeen 
 N/A


Highland
2
County Hospital, Nairn Ross Memorial Hospital, Dingwall
N/A


 Lanarkshire
 1
 Wishaw General Hospital 
 N/A


 Lothian
 1
 Western General Hospital
 N/A


 Orkney
 0
 N/A
 Grampian


 Shetland
 0
 N/A
 Grampian


 Tayside
2
Ninewells Hospital, DundeePerth Royal Infirmary
 N/A


 Western Isles
 0
 N/A
 Highland



  Source: NHS boards, June 2005.

National Health Service

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to ring-fence funding or to establish separate budgets for the treatment of chronic pain.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has no such plans. NHS boards are expected to fund services from the unified budgets made available to them by the Executive. The Executive is, however, looking at ways to make a more efficient use of resources. We have made the report of an independent review of chronic pain services available to NHS boards and will be holding a conference to discuss best practice on pain management on 8 July 2005.

National Health Service

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take on the recommendations contained in the report of Professor James McEwen on the provision of chronic pain services, with particular reference to the formation of a national managed clinical network.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has made Professor McEwen’s report available to NHS boards and will be convening a conference to discuss best practice on pain management on 8 July 2005. The Managed Clinical Network approach to the management of chronic conditions will be considered as part of the conference.

National Health Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) total and (b) per capita health expenditure has been in Greater Glasgow in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The net revenue expenditure by Greater Glasgow Health Board in each of the last five financial years for which information is available is shown in the table. This is shown as (a) total and (b) per capita expenditure for each of those years.

  

 
Total(£000)
Per Capita(£)


1999-2000
 901,072 
 989 


2000-01
 970,992 
 1,074 


2001-02
 1,047,930 
 1,207 


2002-03
 1,134,553 
 1,310 


2003-04
 1,215,315 
 1,403

Poverty

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific programmes it has developed to help lift people out of poverty.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our Closing the Opportunity Gap (CtOG) approach aims to: prevent individuals and families from falling into poverty; provide routes out of poverty for individuals and families, and sustain individuals and families in a lifestyle free from poverty. I announced our 10 CtOG targets on 9 December 2005. Further information on each of the targets, including details of the programmes and investment that will deliver them can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/closingtheopportunitygap/ .

  In addition, a large number of other Scottish Executive programmes and funding streams also contribute to lifting individuals and families out of poverty. Our latest draft budget document (published on 15 October 2004) provides further detail on how each portfolio’s programmes and expenditure will contribute to Closing the Opportunity Gap and to lifting people out of poverty.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many payments it has made in the last five years to Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited, Premier Prison Services Ltd and Premier Custodial Group Ltd and whether it will provide the (a) date, (b) amount and (c) description of each of these payments.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Payments are made in line with the published contract which is on the SPS website at http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/reliance/html/default.asp. Details of individual payments are subject to commercial confidentiality and are not published.

Renewable Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Community Energy Programme funding was awarded to biomass heating projects in Scotland in 2004-05 and how much has been earmarked for 2005-06.

Malcolm Chisholm: We do not hold this information. The Community Energy Programme is an initiative of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is administered on their behalf by the Energy Saving Trust. Details of the initiative can be found at: www.est.co.uk/communityenergy .

Renewable Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to advertise the availability of Scottish Communities and Household Renewables Initiative funding for new-build developments.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewable Initiative (SCHRI) is delivered by The Energy Saving Trust (EST) and Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE). In August 2004, the EST held a business breakfast at Hampden Park in Glasgow, followed by site visits, for builders, developers and architects, introducing renewable technologies and explaining the SCHRI grant process.

  Renewable technologies and the SCHRI grants available for new-build developments have been promoted in the trade press by the EST. For example, a two page editorial feature was secured in Building Scotland, a key journal for the sector, and advertisements appear in specific new build media - Home Building and Renovating and the associated Plotfinder.net website. In addition, over the last two years an exhibition stand promoting SCHRI was present at the two main Homeshows in Scotland – Home Building and Renovating Show and the Ideal Homeshow. The EST also make presentations to building industry groups.

  HIE advertise the SCHRI in general through local press such as the Stornoway Gazette. They also attend and provide promotional material to a number of community conferences in their area, for example the Community Energy Conference: Empowering Your Community held in Knoydart last month.

Scottish Executive Funding

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific discussions or correspondence it has had with Her Majesty’s Government in respect of alteration, amendment or review of the Barnett formula.

Mr Tom McCabe: Both the Executive and the UK Government's policy since devolution has been to support the Barnett formula as simple, straightforward and objective, and the Executive believes the formula has served Scotland well. Since the UK Government has no plans to review the formula, and has had no such plans since devolution, there has been no correspondence or discussions between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government on the future of the Barnett formula.

Scottish Executive Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of computer misuse there have been in each of its departments since 1999, broken down by category of misuse, and how many of these cases resulted in disciplinary action.

Mr Tom McCabe: Since 1999 there have been 174 recorded breaches of the Scottish Executive IT Code of Conduct in core departments by Scottish Executive staff. They are broken down by department as follows:

  

 Corporate Services
 25


 Development
 20


 Education
 15


 Environment and Rural Affairs
 37


 Enterprise Tourism and Lifelong Learning
 26


 Finance and Central Services
 17


 Health
 12


 Justice
 22


 Total
 174



  There is a range of disciplinary penalties which the Executive can impose depending upon the seriousness of the breach. A verbal warning was given in the majority of these cases. Seventy-four resulted in more serious disciplinary action mainly in the form of a written warning.

Special Advisers

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions since 1999 departmental special advisers have travelled (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited, and how much each visit cost.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Mr Tom McCabe: Since 1999 Scottish Executive special advisers have made over 700 journeys within the UK and 52 journeys abroad in an official capacity. The updated information is now provided in tables copies of which have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35351).

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with the National Playing Fields Association Scotland in the last 12 months and, if so, what the outcome of these discussions was.

Patricia Ferguson: The Director of the National Playing Fields Association met with an official from the Executive’s Sports Division together with officials from  sportscotland in February 2005. They discussed a range of issues relating to playing fields. The meeting concluded with an undertaking to work more closely together in areas of mutual interest. Following this meeting a number of Executive officials attended the National Playing Fields Association Scotland conference held in New Lanark on Friday 11 March 2005.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to support higher levels of physical activity in schools.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive is committed to increasing levels of physical activity amongst our school children in line with the targets set out in our Physical Activity Strategy and Sport 21: The National Strategy for Sport in Scotland. We aim to achieve this through a twin approach of providing every school child with at least two hours of quality physical education classes every week and our significant investment in the active schools initiative which will increase the range and quantity of opportunities for our young people to be more active in and around the school day.

United States Visas

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the United States of America (USA) regarding the absence of visa facilities at the US Consulate General in Edinburgh; whether it will ensure that representations are made when the President of the USA visits Scotland for the G8 summit, and whether it will report back on progress.

Mr Tom McCabe: We have not made any recent representations to the US authorities about visa-issuing facilities in Edinburgh, nor do we have plans to do so.

United States Visas

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of Scots who were required to obtain a visa for travel to the United States of America in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Building

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many internal lights inside Holyrood are on permanently.

John Scott (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): Mainly due to Health and Safety requirements, approximately 550 to 600 lights are on permanently within Holyrood. This is approximately 12% of the total number of lights. The majority of lights are switched off by an automated computer lighting system, presence detectors or security personnel.

Scottish Parliament Building

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the estimated annual cost is of internal lights in Holyrood that are always switched on, including maintenance and bulb replacement, and what the estimated annual cost is of these lights for their use outside office hours of 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

John Scott (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The total cost of maintaining, running and replacing bulbs in the lights that are permanently left on is estimated to be £15,000, approximately 9% of the total annual lighting costs. The annual estimated running costs for these lamps outside the hours of 9.00am to 5.00pm is approximately £5,000. Once the Parliament has been occupied for a full calendar year, a more accurate estimate will be possible.

Scottish Parliament Building

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total annual cost is of internal lighting for Holyrood.

John Scott (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The estimated annual cost of internal lighting for Holyrood including labour, lamp replacement, overheads and running costs is approximately £160,000. Once the Parliament has been occupied for a full calendar year, a more accurate estimate will be possible.